The power of the narrative

Photo from Flickr

I'm fascinated by story telling, and I often wonder why TV series are so compelling. This is especially so when I'm binge watching a DVD boxed set. Whether you are a fan of Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings or Line of Duty (or all of them!), you will probably, like many millions of people each week, devote yourself avidly to watching as the tales unfold on your screens.

Generally, such TV shows are so compelling because they have some strategic story telling ingredients that always work. The first is that the writers make sure you invest in the characters and actually care about what happens to them. The writers ensure that enough information is provided so that you can decide whether you want to fall in love with the character (hero), or learn to hate them (villain). Fleshing out the character is a key literary device, presenting the viewer with their weaknesses and strengths, their hopes and fears, their history, their relationships and perhaps their ultimate quest in life.

Secondly, a good tale cannot be predictable, and therefore requires some plot twists. These are often unexpected occurrences, but sometimes they can be anticipated, which may be just as powerful when they finally occur. There is an excitement in this anticipation, and masterly storytellers are able to manipulate your emotions as they weave their tales, building to a climax.

Sometimes there are red herrings in the mix - things that occur that ultimately have no meaning, but are placed there simply to divert your attention or make you question what you are witnessing. Other times, a Chekov's Gun may be present - something that may appear to be irrelevant to the narrative, but ultimately emerges as an important occurrence, artefact or character, salient to the plot. (Ron Weasley's pet rat in Harry Potter is an example of this).

A number of recurring plot lines (or as Kurt Vonnegut called them 'deep narrative shapes') throughout the history of story telling are used again and again, with great success to hook your attention, gain your allegiance and manipulate your emotions. The hero's quest (Frodo's journey to Mordor in Lord of The Rings), rags to riches (Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones), the rise-fall-rise (Daenerys again), and switched allegiances (just about every character in Line of Duty) are just a few examples of recurring plot lines.

What is not said or revealed can also be very powerful in a narrative. Make them believe they will know what will happen next, and then blind-side them with another plot twist to make them gasp in surprise. Leaving the audience guessing with a classic 'cliff hanger' (Glen Rhee falling from the top of the garbage into a herd of zombie walkers in TWD) can have a powerful effect on bringing them back for more in the next episode (or in Glen's case three episodes later!). Just about every television series employs this regularly.

In combination, these devices make TV series very powerful and attractive to millions. We all need to know what will happen next, and we can't wait to find out. This makes me think that many of these devices can also be applied to teaching and learning. How hard would it be to weave a little of these into our everyday lessons to tease our students, seize their attention, and compel them to return time and time again for more?

Related posts
Narrative Pedagogy 1: Focusing their attention
Narrative Pedagogy 2: Maintaining the suspense
Narrative Pedagogy 3: Out of the blue
Narrative Pedagogy 4: Connecting the dots
Learning, story telling and technology
Storytelling with technology (great student video attached to this one)


The power of the narrative by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Posted by Steve Wheeler from Learning with e's